EU AI Act deadlines: what applies now and what moved

Which EU AI Act duty binds you today, which one is coming, and where to read the actual text. Verified 2026-09-17.

What applies when

Date	Article	Who	Status	Enforced by	Obligation
`2025-02-02`	Art. 5	everyone	in force	National MSA of each Member State	Prohibited AI practices are banned outright. source
`2025-02-02`	Art. 4	providers and deployers	in force	National MSA of each Member State	AI literacy: staff who use or operate AI on your behalf need adequate training. source
`2025-08-02`	Chapter V	GPAI model providers	in force	EU AI Office	General-purpose model duties: documentation, copyright policy, and systemic-risk rules for the largest models. source
`2026-08-02`	Art. 50	providers and deployers	in force	National MSA of each Member State	Transparency: tell people they are dealing with an AI system, and mark synthetic content. Applies whatever your risk tier. source
`2026-08-02`	Art. 70, Art. 74-75	everyone	in force	National MSA; AI Office for GPAI; EDPS for Union bodies	Market surveillance is live: national authorities and the AI Office can investigate and penalise. source
`2026-12-02`	Art. 111(4) with Art. 50(2)	providers of synthetic-content systems placed on the market before 2 Aug 2026	upcoming	National MSA of each Member State	Extra four months to mark synthetic audio, image, video or text. source
`2026-12-02`	Art. 5	everyone	upcoming	National MSA of each Member State	Prohibitions covering non-consensual intimate imagery and child sexual abuse material take effect. source
`2027-12-02`	Chapter III Sections 1-3, Annex III	providers and deployers of listed high-risk systems	upcoming	National MSA of each Member State	Core high-risk duties for Annex III uses such as recruitment, credit scoring, biometrics and education. Moved here from 2 Aug 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. source
`2028-08-02`	Art. 6(1), Annex I	providers of AI inside regulated products	upcoming	National MSA of each Member State	Core high-risk duties where the AI is a safety component of a product already covered by EU product law. source
`2030-08-02`	Art. 111(2)	public administrations	upcoming	National MSA of each Member State	Legacy systems already in service must be brought into line. source

The part most summaries get wrong

The general application date of 2 August 2026 has passed, so transparency under Article 50 and the supervisory powers are live. The core high-risk duties are not: Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 moved Annex III uses to 2 December 2027 and product-embedded systems to 2 August 2028. Plenty of material still quotes the old dates.

National MSA means the market surveillance authority of each Member State. The names, and which rows the Commission still leaves blank, are in which country, which authority, what status.

Penalty ceilings

Prohibited practices: up to €35m or 7% of worldwide annual turnover (Art. 99)
Most operator obligations, including transparency: up to €15m or 3% (Art. 99)
Supplying incorrect information to authorities: up to €7.5m or 1% (Art. 99)

Primary sources

Limits

This table is a dated reference, not legal advice. Dates were verified on 2026-09-17 against the consolidated regulation and the Commission's enforcement page, both linked per row. Read the primary text before you change a product, a contract, or a customer notice.